


The Swan and The Solider

by NinaNoel



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Russian Mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-05-01 20:32:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19185046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinaNoel/pseuds/NinaNoel
Summary: It only took a moment for her entire world to fall apart. In the next moment she was sucked into a very different world of drugs, mafia captains, and Bucky Barnes. Forced to dance at The Vault in order to pay back the debt her parents owed she quickly gets caught up in this dangerous world and has to find a way to survive.





	1. All Fall Down

**Author's Note:**

> All right, this is my first time posting anything here and the first time doing a story like this so please let me know what you think!

She knew when the phone rang. How she knew she’d never understand, but before she even answered her phone she knew that it was terrible news. Her phone rarely rang as of late. Her parents were being very cryptic about whatever was going on with them. She’d become withdrawn from her friends at the company. Paranoia would do that to a person. Someone was following her, or watching her at the very least. Answering the phone, no more than a hello was required before her world completely fell apart. Her parents were dead, a car crash, the brakes had failed, probably cut, maybe not, no way to really tell. There was so much information to absorb, but her brain was focused on one single detail: her parents were dead. That phrase played over and over again in her mind like a cd stuck on a random line of a song. It was jarring and painful. Dead, they were dead. The details mattered very little because her parents were dead. 

This was not news that she had ever expected to receive, she eventually hung up the phone before moving numbly about the room. There were things that had to be done, their bodies had to be identified and claimed, funerals had to be arranged, and the list went on and on. She sat down on her bed and stared blankly at the wall, for how long she wasn’t sure but a knock at the door finally propelled her back to reality. She moved slowly to answer the door, not even bothering to check to see who was there before throwing it open. She came face to face with three well-dressed men. One was much older than the other two and he seemed to be the one in charge. He simply nodded at her before brushing past her and walking into her apartment. 

“Um, excuse me, who are you,” she asked as she turned to look at him, forgetting about the other two men. With a simple incline of his head an order seemed to be given, one of the men grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her into the living room before shoving her onto the sofa. “What the hell is going on?”

“Carly, my name is Alexander Pierce, perhaps you’ve heard your parents mention me,” the older man said with a bland look on his face. Carly stared back at him blankly before glancing at the other two men. “Ah, these are my Captains, Rumlow and Barnes.”

“Captains? I’m sorry I don’t understand,” Carly replied as she looked at both of the men. They were both imposing figures, tall, well-built, both handsome in different ways. She had no idea who was Rumlow and who was Barnes, but one of the men looked eerily familiar as though she’d seen him somewhere before, on the street, maybe at a coffee shop. As she stared at him she began to remember, she had seen him more than once and he always seemed to be watching her. 

“You, you’ve been following me! I’ve seen you outside the studio and the theatre!” She scrambled out of her seat and moved away from him. 

The other man looked at the man she had just accused in confusion. Pierce had better control of his reactions and didn’t even flinch. “We’ve had you under surveillance, Rumlow was assigned to watch you.”

“Why? I’m just a dancer! There’s no reason for me to be under surveillance. Will you please tell me what the hell is going on? I just… my parents…,” Carly trailed off the deep loneliness of her situation dawned on her. She had no one else. Her parents were only children, their parents were dead. Her lower lip trembled dangerously as she looked up at Mr. Pierce. “That’s why you’re here, it has something to do with my parents.”

“Yes, being here is an unfortunate result of your parents’ inability to pay back their debt. Their untimely deaths adds further complications to this situation.”  
Carly blinked several times before looking at the other man. She was struck by the bright blue of his eyes. More than that it was the look in his eyes as he stared at her. It was a look she hadn’t seen in a long time, pity. He felt bad for her and he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it, but Carly knew that look all too well. She’d seen it in everyone’s eyes when her brother had died. How had she lost so much in such a short life? She was only 23, how could this be happening to her. 

She drew in a shaky breath before returning her attention to Mr. Pierce. “How much did they owe you?”

“3 million, before interest.” 

Barnes would have laughed at the way her eyes widened so dramatically if he hadn’t felt bad for the girl. Her parents had died two hours ago and now there were men standing in her apartment telling her that she had just inherited their debt. His stomach clenched when she practically collapsed back onto the sofa. His fists clenched where he had them hidden behind his back. He wanted to reach for her and tell her that it was going to be ok, but it wasn’t going to be and he shouldn’t lie to her it would only make the situation worse. 

“I… I don’t… how do they owe you that much? I don’t understand,” Carly said frantically. She went to stand up, but Rumlow reached out and roughly pushed her back down on the sofa. She batted his hands away snarling at him with one of the fiercest looks Barnes had ever seen, before returning her attention to Pierce. “How do they owe you that much money? We… we have money!”

“Yes, my money, your family has been living off my money for some time now. Your parents were employed by my organization. Little did we know that they were taking advantage of our generosity for some time. You have nothing. You’re trust fund is empty, your rent was paid with our money, your apartment isn’t even in your name dear.”

“But… I…,” she glanced around frantically. “I have money, I work, I get paid by my company every other week.”

“What you make there is never going to cover your debt,” Rumlow snapped roughly. Barnes was an observant man he prided himself on it. On more than one occasion he’d been referred to as silent and deadly. There was something off about the way Rumlow was acting toward this girl, she wasn’t simply a mark to him. She was much more. 

“It’s not my debt! I didn’t take the money, they did!”

“And they are dead now,” Pierce snapped. “Rumlow I thought you said she was smart.”

Rumlow shrugged in response leering at the young woman in question. “Maybe she has other useful attributes.” 

Carly swallowed hard and glanced at each of the men briefly. “It’s my debt now. How am I supposed to pay you back 3 million? I won’t make anywhere near that much in my lifetime. I’m a dancer, eventually I’ll be a teacher, I won’t ever make that much!” 

“You’re in luck, we need a dancer,” Pierce explained. “My company owns several reputable clubs and we are in need of dancers. You will work for us until your debt is paid.”

“What if I say no,” Carly asked her voice trembling with fear. 

“Well there are other options to be sure,” Pierce replied. “You could go to the police, but by now I’m sure you’ve realized who you are dealing with and that the police would never dare to interfere in our business, they are paid handsomely after all. You could refuse to work with us, you could try to run from us, but no one escapes from Barnes, he will find you and he will bring you back. We could put you to use in other ways, sell you to the highest bidder, I’m sure a young lady such as yourself would draw rather high interest from our men. Or we could simply kill you.”

“It’s up to you sweetheart,” Rumlow hissed in her ear as he placed his hands on her shoulders. She flinched under his touch and tried to pull away with no luck. 

“If I… if I dance I won’t be… where would I…,” she couldn’t complete her thoughts. 

“You will have to leave this apartment, we’ll take care of your parent’s estate, maybe some of that will be of some value and will help with your debt. We’ll place you in new housing for your time with us. You can continue to dance with your current company and we’ll treat you as any other dancer we employee. You will not be paid for your work in our club though, we will be taking everything you earn and it will all go to your debt,” Pierce explained. “Barnes and his team will pick you up tomorrow at noon. They will transport you to your new apartment, we’ll allow you to keep anything you purchased yourself but whatever your parents bought will also go toward your debt. You will be at the club by 4 and you will perform tomorrow night.”

Carly stared at him numbly. She didn’t know if he expected her to respond or not. Pierce simply nodded at her before striding out of her apartment Rumlow and Barnes following behind him. She was still staring at the spot Pierce had been standing, tears slowly slipping down her face as Barnes turned back to shut her door. She missed the way he looked at her, the thinly veiled rage that disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. There was no way a girl like that deserved to end up in this situation. It was this life, people kept getting caught up in its wake and drowning under the weight of it. It was going to be too much for her, it was going to break her, and it was going to be awful to watch. 

The door clicked shut and Bucky couldn’t help but wonder if he should stay to make sure that Rumlow didn’t come back here. His fingers itched to pull out his phone and call Steve, but he resisted the temptation. “I’ll keep an eye out, make sure she doesn’t get any bright ideas,” he offered before Rumlow could. 

“Do that, a girl like that could make us a lot of money,” Pierce said as he entered the elevator. “Let’s go Rumlow.”

Rumlow stared at Barnes for a long moment before stepping into the elevator. “Make sure she’s at Hydra tomorrow by 4. I can’t wait to see her on stage.”

Barnes sneered at him as the doors the elevator closed. The girl was a ballerina not an exotic dancer. There was no way she was going to be able to get up there and perform like the other dancers. She was going to fall apart on that stage and she’d never make it through a private dance. He doubted that girl had ever had a hand laid on her and now she was going to be on display every night. He turned back to the door of her apartment and knocked. He only had to wait a moment before the door flew open. She stared at him with wide eyes her lower lip trembling dangerously as she tried to keep her tears in check. 

“What,” she asked in a whisper. “What else do you people want from me?”

“Can I come in?”

“I don’t even know your name and you want me to let you in? You people have taken everything from me and now you want to come in for a chat,” she shouted at him. 

“I want to help you, if you’ll let me. My name is James Barnes, but most people call me Bucky,” he explained. Bucky knew he was asking a lot of her. She was right, they had taken everything from her, but he wanted to give her something she could hold on to, something to carry through what was about to rip her life right out of her hands. 

“Help me? How are you going to help me? Are you going to pay this debt? Are you going to bring my parents back?”

“You said Rumlow has been following you? How long has he been watching you?”

“I… I don’t know. Does it matter?”

“It does,” Bucky said as she moved away from the door and over to the sofa. He stepped into the apartment, shutting the door and locking it before moving toward the sofa. “Can I fix you a drink?”

“What?”

Bucky gestured to the bar cart she had pushed against the end of her kitchen island. She stared blankly at him as he made his way into the kitchen and found two glasses. He dropped a couple of ice cubes in each glass before filling them halfway with vodka. He set one glass in front of her on the coffee table before sitting in the chair opposite her.  
“How long has he been following you?”

“I… I don’t know… I’ve seen him around. He was at the theater the other night after the show. He was there when I came out. He never spoke to me, but he was just there. I thought he… I didn’t know what to think.”

“I think he had something to do with your parents dying,” Bucky replied. He knew Rumlow had something to do with it, but that was based solely on the way Rumlow had looked at her and that wasn’t enough to prove it. Her parents were more valuable than she would ever prove to be and Rumlow had screwed that up when he’d killed them. Without solid proof he couldn’t throw an accusation like that at another Captain though. That could just as easily lead to his death and if he dead everything he had done would be for nothing. 

“What? Why would he do that? What does he stand to gain from that?”

“You.”

“Me? Why… why would he want me?”

Bucky gave her a pointed look indicating that he could think of a few reasons why Rumlow would want her. He didn’t understand what Rumlow stood to gain from taking the girl for himself if her parents were dead. She would never be able to pay off the debt by herself. She would need someone to help her. Maybe Rumlow was playing a long game here. He’d gotten her into the club where he would see her almost every day. He could have darker things in mind for her if he was planning to take her for himself or if he wanted to drive her into his arms. 

“You should start packing your things,” Bucky finally said. 

She stared at him for a long moment before she picked up the glass he’d placed on the table with shaking hands. She emptied the glass in one quick gulp. She held her hand out to him. Bucky extended his glass to her watching with interest as she emptied his glass as well. 

“I can’t take most of this with me anyway. What’s the point? If Rumlow gets his way…” she trailed off as she stared down at the floor. 

“I’m not going to let him hurt you.”

“How are you going to stop him? You can’t be there every second of the day,” she shot back. She shoved off the sofa and made her way to what he assumed was her bedroom. “He’s going to get exactly what he wants and there is nothing you can do to stop him.” 

Her bedroom door shut with a quite click but Bucky didn’t miss the thump of her hitting the floor or the sound of her sobs. He’d leave her be for now, her new reality was going to come sooner than she expected. He hoped that she’d be able to handle it, but he knew that this life had a way of breaking people down. It brought out the worst in everyone that got sucked into it. He had a terrible feeling this was going to ultimately end in another death, but he couldn’t help but hope it wouldn’t be hers.


	2. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning comes before Carly is ready for it and she finds out more about the club she'll be working at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the shortness of this chapter, but it was part of the next chapter which had to be split due to length.

Chapter 2  
The next morning came before she was ready for it. She wasn’t sure how she’d ended up in her bed, the last thing she remembered was sitting on the floor crying as her world collapsed around her. Carly sat up in bed and looked around her room, there were some boxes already sitting in her floor and they were partially filled. The door to her bedroom opened slowly to reveal Bucky. 

“You’re awake,” he said as he stood in the doorway. She simply nodded at him as she glanced over at the boxes. He wanted to say more but refrained. She didn’t look like she wanted to talk, she didn’t look like she wanted to even move from her place on the bed. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Carly mumbled as she watched him. The idea of this strange man going through her things, being in her bedroom while she slept, unsettled her. What if he was like Rumlow? Maybe he wanted her to think she could trust him but he was going to betray her as soon she let her guard down. Who knew how a mind like his worked, he was a Captain for the mafia after all you didn’t end up in that role without spilling a lot of blood and being particularly ruthless. 

“I know.”

“I don’t think I can take most of that with me.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t,” Bucky said as he entered her room. This was the only thing he could do for her right now. He’d spent half the night warring with himself. He didn’t know why he cared so much about this girl, but he knew he had to do something to help her. She was going to get torn apart if he didn’t try. “You might want to start packing your clothes.”

Carly slipped out of the bed and moved over to her closet. She pulled out a large suitcase and set it on the bed. She quickly packed as much clothing as she could into the bag. She glanced around the room before picking up a stuffed elephant and sticking it in the bag as well. She placed a few other items in the suitcase before closing it up. She watched as Bucky continued to place things in her boxes. 

“How do you know that I even want those things,” she asked softly. 

“I don’t, but you might one day.”

She handed him a stack of books from her nightstand. “Do you know where I am going to be living?”

“You’ll move in with one of the other girls who works at the club. She’ll help you get ready.” He’d already warned Natasha that they were coming, the spare room of her apartment was prepared. 

“What kind of club is it? He said… he said I have to perform tonight?”

“It’s a club for men.”

“A club for men? A strip club?”

“Yes,” Bucky said without meeting her gaze. 

“So I will have to… they expect me to…,” she trailed off as she stared at him. Her heart dropped into her stomach at the thought of it. She would have to dance for these men and they certainly had no interest in ballet. 

“Yes they do.”

“What if I refuse? I can’t do that… I’ve never… I wouldn’t even know what to do,” Carly exclaimed. She didn’t realize in that moment that she had confirmed Bucky’s suspicion. She was a virgin, maybe not in every sense of the word, but in the ways it mattered most she had no experience. Of course stripping wasn’t about the actual act of sex, it was about making men want what they couldn’t have, what they couldn’t touch, and it was all about the fantasy. 

“You can’t refuse. He told you what would happen if you did,” Bucky replied. 

“Bucky,” she whispered getting him to look at her for the first time. “I can’t do that… I’ve never even… how can I…”

“You don’t have a choice, the girls will help you, you’ll be fine.” There was a knock at the door and she spun around to look at the door. “Grab whatever else you need, we’re going to take you to your new apartment and then to the club to get ready.”


	3. Glorified Prisoner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support so far! I'll try to be better about updating. I'm also working on two other stories, so if you are enjoying this be on the look out for those.

Chapter 3  
It didn’t take long for her to finish gathering her things and put them into the boxes Bucky had given her. They were placed in the back of an SUV before she was pushed into the backseat. She avoided eye contact with the men that were escorting them from one place to the other. She glanced out the window of the nondescript black SUV as they pulled away from the curb. This was probably the last time she’d see her apartment building. She realized in that moment she’d forgotten something very important she stiffened next to Bucky. She couldn’t bring it up now, she’d have to figure it out on her own. 

“Sam, Clint, this is Carly, Carly this is Sam and Clint,” Bucky said as he settled in the backseat gesturing to each man to identify them. Both were wearing suits similar to Bucky’s, Sam was driving, while Clint sat in the passenger seat. 

“Ma’am,” Clint said with a nod. 

“How’s it going,” Sam asked as he kept his eyes on the busy streets as he navigated through the traffic. 

“I’ve been better,” Carly muttered. 

“We’re going to Natasha’s right,” Sam asked Bucky. 

“Yeah, Carly is going to be staying with her for the time being,” Bucky replied. 

“For the time being,” Carly asked. 

“Until we know you can be trusted on your own,” Clint said as he shot a glance at her. 

Carly nodded as she glanced out the window watching the buildings go by. It was a silent drive after that, broken only the buzzing of Bucky’s cell phone. He shot off text after text before they arrived at their destination. Carly itched to pull out her own phone, but she didn’t know if she was even allowed a phone anymore. She didn’t want to press her luck with these men, they seemed ok but they were still part of the mafia. She knew enough to not let her guard down fully, that was how she was going to end up hurt or worse dead.  
The ride to her new home was shorter than she expected. Sam parked along the curb and Bucky quickly slid out. He reached back in and easily took hold of the bag she’d placed on the seat between them. He placed it on his shoulder before he waved her out behind him and guided her over to the front door. He held the door open for her and guided her up the 4 flights of stairs to her new apartment. He knocked twice before stepping back to wait for Natasha. The door was flung open in a matter of moments to reveal a women in her mid-twenties, a couple of years older than herself. Carly stared blankly at her as Bucky nodded in greeting before stepping inside. He held the door open for her again motioning for her to come in. 

Carly glanced at the other woman before stepping inside. She quickly assessed her surroundings before turning back to Bucky and the woman. “I’m Carly,” she said softly extending her hand. 

“I know, I’m Natasha, it’s nice to meet you,” she replied shaking her hand. “So you’re the new girl.”

It wasn’t even a question but Carly knew what she meant. She was the new girl, the girl she’d been saddled with, the girl she was going to have to take care of, the girl with the dead parents. The statement covered all of the bases. Carly simply nodded before glancing over at Bucky. “Um, where is my room?”

“Down the hall, first door on the left, bathroom is the door on the right,” Natasha said succinctly nodding in the direction of the room. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“The guys will bring up the rest of your stuff,” Bucky said as he passed off the gym bag she’d had sitting between them on the backseat. He assumed it had all of the things she needed for her dance company. He could hear Sam and Clint outside the apartment with the first load of her things. 

“Thank you,” Carly murmured before making her way down the hall. 

“This is never going to work, she’s not cut out for this,” Natasha said as soon as Carly was out of sight. That girl had innocent written all over her. She was never going to be able to perform the way they wanted. No one wanted to watch a girl who was afraid of her audience that didn’t make them any money.

“She’ll be fine, she’s a professional dancer.”

“Not this sort of dancer. That girl is never going to be ok with taking her clothes off in front of an audience. What is she going to do during a private dance,” Natasha hissed. This was going to explode in their faces. It was never going to work and they could be setting this girl up for something much worse without even meaning to. Natasha couldn’t think of the exact saying about the best of intentions, but she knew it applied to this situation. 

“She doesn’t have a choice,” Bucky said firmly. 

“We’ve always got a choice.”

“She doesn’t Tasha, drop it. She’s going to need all the help she can get, but she doesn’t have a choice in this. She can dance at the club or she can wait to be claimed by someone. What do you think would happen to her then?”

“You care for this girl,” Natasha said in astonishment. “Bucky you know the rules, you can’t…”

Bucky cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “You don’t think I know that? It’s nothing, a passing… I won’t jeopardize everything over this. I don’t need you to remind me of the rules. I need you to do your job and keep an eye on her.”

There was a knock at the door before it was pushed open. Sam and Clint carried in some of Carly’s things and headed toward her bedroom without a word. Pushing the door open they found her sitting on the bed staring out the window. 

“You ok kid,” Sam asked as he set down two of the boxes. 

Carly simply nodded before standing up. “Thanks for bringing these up.”

“Yeah, of course, you need anything before we bring in the rest?”

Carly shook her head at him as Natasha appeared in the doorway to her room. “You’ll have to unpack later. I need to see your clothes.”

“I don’t have anything I can wear to a strip club,” Carly said quickly. She blushed when Sam chuckled at her statement. 

“The point is to not be wearing things,” Natasha replied. “Let me see what you have. You can borrow something of mine if you need to, we’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

“I don’t really have a lot of money right now. They… they took everything because of my parent’s… my debt,” Carly explained as she blushed a deeper shade of red. She glanced from Sam to Natasha to Bucky before looking down at her shoes. “I can’t buy new clothes right now.”

“Its fine, I’ll take care of it,” Bucky said with a wave of his hand. 

“No, you can’t,” Carly cried. It was a trick. He wasn’t trying to be nice to her. He wanted to make her reliant on him. He was trying to make her trust him and then he was going to show her his true colors. She didn’t wat him to buy her things, hell she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. 

“Carly it’s fine,” he assured her. 

“No, it will add to my debt, you can’t. It will take me years to pay back that money I don’t want to add to it.” 

“Give us a minute,” Bucky said firmly jerking his head toward the door. Natasha and Sam glanced between the two of them before leaving the room. Carly shifted away from him almost as though he was backing her into a corner. She clenched and unclenched her fists as her hands shook with nerves and fear once the door clicked shut behind them. 

“Please,” Carly whispered as she stared down at the floor. 

“Please what?”

“Please don’t…,” Carly whispered softly, so softly if he hadn’t been listening he would have missed it. 

“What do you think I am going to do Carly?” 

She shook her head at him unwilling to say it out loud. If she said it, it would be real, it would give it power, the power to hurt her. What was he going to do to her? There were other people in the apartment but that didn’t mean they would help her. He could hit her, he could do anything he wanted and he’d get away with it. There was nothing to stop him. 

“Look at me please,” Bucky said as he shifted closer to her. She skirted back a few steps, wrapping her arms around herself to hold herself together. She glanced up at him frightened tears clinging to her eyelashes. “I’m not going to hurt you. I would never lay a hand on you in that way.”

“I don’t know that. I don’t know you.”

“I’m just trying to help you.”

“You took everything from me and now you want to help me,” Carly snapped as tears began to slip down her face. “I’m a glorified prisoner and the second you think that I’ve stepped out of line you will kill me just like you killed my parents so please tell me how that is helping me?”

“I didn’t kill your parents Carly and I’m not going to kill you.”

“You’ll have someone else do it for you.”

“I could, but I’m not going to do that to you. I’m trying to keep you safe Carly,” Bucky explained. He knew that Rumlow was up to something and it involved her. There was something about her that was drawing both of them to her, but Rumlow seemed to be much deeper. “There are people at the club… that will try to take advantage of you. You need to blend in there and the clothes will help you do that.”

“I can’t afford them and I don’t want you to buy them for me,” Carly said as firmly as she could there was still a tremor of fear in her voice though. 

“It won’t be added to your debt,” Bucky assured her. 

“You keep saying things to me and expecting me to just believe them, to take you at your word, but I can’t,” Carly replied as she struggled to maintain some sense of calm, of control. “I… I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be anywhere near any of you, I just want to go back to my apartment, I want my dog, I want my mom!”

The control that she’d been scrambling for collapsed around her. She stepped back into the wall and slid down to the floor as she sobbed. She drew her knees up to her chest hiding her face from view as tears soaked into her leggings. 

Bucky shifted forward a step not knowing what to do. He hadn’t wanted to upset her, but he didn’t know how to help now. There was a knock at the door and it pushed open slightly. Bucky turned quickly and stepped so that he was blocking Carly from view. He didn’t want her to be embarrassed. 

“Steve? What are you doing here,” Bucky asked in confusion. 

“I came to check in,” he said as he leaned to the side to glance around Bucky. “Is everything ok?”

“Steve,” a voice wobbled from behind Bucky.


End file.
